Tying apparatus for toroidal objects



y 7,, 1969 H. DE BRUIN 3,446,446

TYING APPARATUS FOR TOROIDAL OBJECT Filed April 7, 1966 Sheet of s FIG. I I9 l7 O r 0 l8 IO 5 ll O l O l 5 INVENTOR.

HENDRIK DE BRUIN May 27, 1969 H. DE BRUIN 3,446,446 TYING APPARATUS FOR TOROIDAL OBJECT Filed April '2. 1966 I Sheet Z 01 s INVENTOR. HENDRIK DE BRUIN BY 1/ May 27, 1969 H. DE BRUIN TYING APPARATUS FOR TOROIDAL OBJECT Sheet Filed April 7, 1966 FIG. 4

FIG.3

, bbbibbhhhbb. h

INVENTOR. HENDRIK DE BRUIN TYIN G APPARATUS FOR TOROIDAL OBJECTS Hendrik de Bruin, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor to American Enka Corporation, Erika, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 540,951 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Apr. 30, 1965, 6505578 Int. Cl. B6511 81/02; B65b 13/10 US. Cl. 242-4 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an apparatus for tying toroidalshaped objects, and more particularly apparatus especially adapted for tying spinning cakes a nomenclature known in the art signifying toroidal shaped composites of freshly spun filaments, threads or fibers of regenerated cellulose which are collected in a spinning pot or spinning centrifuge.

During part of the aftertreatment of fibers formed of regenerated cellulose it has been found more expedient to have the fibers cast and maintained in cake form and it is necessary that the cake possess fiber coherency. Coherency between the fibers is obtained by tying the cake with a continuous thread and in many cases, tying of the cakes with thread is done by hand, a very expensive and time consuming operation.

Relatively recently, apparatus has been proposed to mechanically tie cakes and usually comprises a movable cake support and a circumferentially supported and driven tying wheel. The tying wheel is in the form of a partly opened ring having an axis of rotation across that of the cake support and at right angles about halfway the height of a spinning cake held by the movable support. The path of the wheel runs past the outside and inside of the thus supported cake and serves to lay a tying thread to secure the fibers in the cake in a manageable and closely related fashion. The cake supporting surface is composed of two elements, one stationary and fixedly positioned on a second element being capable of performing a compound motion to the cake. This compound motion comprises intermittent lifting, slightly shifting and putting the cake down again after which the support resumes an initial starting position.

Notwithstanding the advantages of using the type of known apparatus above described over that of tying by hand, it has been the tendency among manufacturers not to use the above described mechanical apparatus because of several serious drawbacks notably of which is the fact that the tying operation afforded by such apparatus is very time-consuming and the cakes are easily damaged by frequent mechanical malfunctions and unnecessary handling of the cakes. Moreover, the tying pattern in many cases is not very satisfactory, and often ravels during the time the cakes are being further processed.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages attendant with the apparatus previously used in tying toroidal shaped composities, particularly spinning cakes.

States Patent It is a further object of this invention to provide ap' paratus which gives a satisfactory tying pattern for package composites of fibers, filaments, threads, wires or other toroidal shaped objects.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an apparatus which is simple in construction adapted for mechanically tying or securing material formed in a composite toroidal shape and .which can be used in a continuous treatment type operation for such composites with a minimum of supervision.

Generally, the apparatus according to the invention comprises a rotatable disc on which are mounted a number of circularly arranged upwardly extending brackets, topmost of which form an interrupted annular cake supporting surface. When viewed from the axis of rotation of the supporting surface and at the level of the lowermost point of the path of the tying wheel, the brackets span angles of magnitude the sum of which is smaller than that of an angle which spans the interruption in the tying wheel. Best results are obtained if the brackets supported by the disc number eight in all, and a cake to be tied is placed on the supporting surface so that the axis of the spinning cake coincides with the axis of rotation of the disc. The opening in the circumference of the tying wheel faces the space immediately above the cake supporting surface and is higher than the height of the cake.

Further, as an attendant advantage of the compact tying wheel construction, the apparatus is especially suitable for tying spinning cakes of smaller core diameters and greater heights. This is permitted by providing a spool holder and a thread guide in periphery or inner rim of the tying Wheel.

In operation of the novel apparatus, a cake is placed on the supporting surface and the novel tying wheel rotates in such a manner, that part of its path runs through the centrally disposed opening (core) in the spinning cake. Since the supporting surface is placed on a number of upwardly extending brackets, the tying wheel moves between these brackets. When a spinning cake is in proper position to be tied, a free end of yarn being supplied from a tying yarn package (located on a spool attached to the tying wheel) is secured at a fixed point and subsequently pulled underneath the spinning cake and continuously unwinds from package when the tying wheel is rotated and is successively wound on the outside and inside of the spinning cake.

In order that the yarn cake will not be tied to its supporting surface, the surface has interruptions or spaces between the supporting brackets exactly positioned in places where the yarn passes underneath the cake. The movement of the tying wheel relative to that of the support disc is intermittent and has means for properly indexing to permit the upwardly extending bracket-like rotatable cake support to pass through the plane of the tying wheel. The positioning of the space between the ends of the tying wheel coincides with a single bracket of the support surface, and when rotated, the wheel passes be tween the brackets. When the disc carrying the cake support brackets is continuously rotated, the tying wheel winds the yarn continuously on the circumference of the cake and in a different location.

Effective winding can also be realized if, after each revolution of the tying wheel, the upport is turned a distance Where the wheel passes between alternating spaces provided by the upwardly extending brackets. This could be done by deriving the movement of the support disc for the rotatable brackets from the movement of the tying wheel via a maltese cross or like means. This construction, however, is very complicated and thus, preference is given to the construction according to the invention wherein the rotatable support moves continuously. Oonstruction according to the present invention also has at- 83 tendant advantages of higher winding speeds and less maintenance.

Difficulty previously encountered in fastening the leading end and the trailing end of the tying yarn may be avoided by providing the tying wheel or the rotatable disc with electric contact means. The Contact can be set or adjusted to permit two consecutive revolutions of the rotatable disc, and then act to effectively cut out the supply of current to a self-braking motor driving the apparatus. As a result, the motor stops the tying wheel in a position with the interruption in the wheel facing the annular supporting surface. In this position, the tied spinning cake may then be directly lifted and removed from the supporting frame. By having the rotatable disc makes two revolutions during tying, the cake is tied twice. Double tying appears to impart the same coherency to the spinning cake as would single tying and where the cake must be removed from the support to join yarn ends by manually tying in a knot. Double tying, in effect, results in complete mechanical fastening, and the time required is much shorter than having an operator remove and reposition the spinning cakes on the supporting surface by hand-a practice previously required when tying cakes.

Another advantage attendant with the present apparatus resides in means providing effective avoidance of a surplus of tying yarn being unwound from a supply spool or package. During rotation of tying wheels, the distance between the point of arrival of the tying yarn on the spinning cake and the thread guide attached to an inside the periphery of the wheel often differs from point to point. This distance alternately increases and decreases. When the distance decreases, there will be a surplus of tying yarn unwound from the spool. This surplus of yarn will then hang down in a loop and will subsequently be tightened. The disadvantage of loosely hanging yarn is in that the threads in the cake will not be held tightly together and will shift, forming oddly shaped and deformed cakes which are very difficult to handle in subsequent operations, such as washing, dyeing, drying, and the like. Inside the tying wheel of the present apparatus, a lengthcompensating device is provided for the unwinding tying yarn, and any surplus yarn will constantly be taken up. The length-compensating device comprises a weak spring which makes it possible to maintain the tension of the tying yarn during tying practically constant. Accordingly, yarn layer shifting on the spinning cakes is effectively prevented.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows a frontal, partially cutaway view of the apparatus acording to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a detail of said apparatus in plan view;

(FIGURE 3 shows the tying wheel on an enlarged scale; an

FIGURE 4 shows the wheel in cross-section.

In FIGURE 1 numeral 1 refers to a spinning cake which is to be tied. This spinning cake is placed on supporting surface 2, which is attached to a rotatable disc 4 by means of eight upwardly extending brackets 3. By means of a gear transmission 5, 6, 7 and a chain transmission 8, 9, 10, the rotatable disc 4 is coupled to gear wheel which is driven by motor 14 via transmission 11, 12-, 13. Gear wheel 15 serves to drive tying wheel 16. Wheel 16 is constructed in a shape of a 270 arc. To make it possible for tying wheel 16 to be driven continuously, there is provided at an angular distance of about 120 from gear wheel 15 a second gear wheel 17, which is also in contact with tying wheel 16 and which is driven in sync-hronism with gear wheel 15. Further, the tying wheel is supported on its outer periphery by a number of supporting rollers 19 and the inside by a number of supporting rollers 20.

The apparatus is also provided with electric contact 21, which is incorporated in the supply circuit for electric motor 14.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show the tying wheel on an enlarged scale. On the outside of the tying wheel 16 there is provided a rim composed of teeth 22, which intermesh with gear wheels 15 and 17. As can be seen best in crosssection, the tying wheel is constructed substantially U- shaped, thus permitting positioning within the outer and inner rim various elements according to this invention. For example, numeral 23 in FIGURE 3 shows a holder for a yarn supply spool 24 from which tying yarn 26 may be unwound and passed via various guiding members over thread guide 25 to spinning cake 1 (as shown in FIGURE 1 only. Between spool 24 and thread guide 25, tying yarn 26 is pased over various thread guides and tensioning members. For example, it passes around guiding member 28, which is kept taut and off to one side by the tensioning wire 29 and draw spring 27. Permitted by weak spring 27, the yarn loop passing around guiding member 28 may temporarily have a greater length without the tension of the tying yarn leaving the thread guide 25 being subject to appreciable fluctuations.

FIGURE 1 intentionally shows that while the tying wheel is rotating, tying yarn 26 is wound on spinning cake 1. After each revolution of tying wheel 16, rotatable disc 4 has advanced of a complete turn. Each bracket 3 passes through the plane of the tying wheel when the interruption or space between the ends of the tying wheel is in correct position in relation to the bracket.

FIGURE 2 shows supporting surface 2 formed by eight fiat top ends 31 attached to brackets 3. The tying yarn may be pulled through the openings formed therebetween.

The outer left fiat top end consists of two parts 32 and 33 between which the free end of tying yarn 26 may be passed. A recess 34 in part 32 and a corresponding projection 35 in part 33 retain the free end when part 33 is kept pressed against part 32 by means of a pressure spring 36 provided in the inside of part 33.

When the tying Wheel 16 is in correct position, the interruption therein leaves sufficient room for the cake 1 to be placed on and removed from the supporting surface in a horizontal direction.

The tying is carried out as follows. First, the free end of the tying thread 26 is pulled past the thread guide 25 in order that it may be clamped between projections 35 and recess 34. An untied freshly cast spinning cake is placed on its supporting surface 2. When driving motor 14 is switched on, tying wheel 16 will start its cycle and is automatically stopped the moment the rotatable disc 4 has made two revolutions. Contact 21 is provided in the supply circuit of the electric motor 14 in a manner known to one skilled in the art. After the contact 21 has contacted the tying wheel 16 times, the current supply circuit of the motor 14 is interrupted and the motor stops in the desired position. Finally, the end of the tying yarn is cut, the cake removed, and the end of the tying yarn suspending from the tying wheel is fastened in the clamp formed by the parts 32 and 33.

The above-described tying apparatus is particularly suitable for use in a fully automatic aftertreatment of spinning cakes, and can be used in any system at any stage after the cakes have been dolfed from the spinning pots. Winding the tying yarn 0n the cake by two revolutions of the rotatabled disc results in a sufliciently coherent cake with out the necessity of any further treatment.

While tying using the novel apparatus according to this invention has been described with particular reference to spinning cakes, it should be realized that the invention is not solely limited to this type application. The apparatus may also be used for tying other composites such as tires, bundles of wire, hose, or other objects of toroidal shape.

While the novel features of the invention have been described and are pointed out in the appended claims, it is to be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for Winding tying strands around ringlike toroidal objects, such as freshly spun composites of man-made filaments, fibers, yarns, threads and the like, the improvements comprising in combination,

(a) a plurality of upwardly extending brackets, the topmost portion of each bracket being constructed to provide a fixed supporting and positioning surface segment for the toroidal object to be Wound,

(b) said segments collectively forming an interrupted, annular supporting and positioning surface for said object,

() said brackets further being rigidly mounted about the circumference of a flat, annular disc constructed for rotary movement,

(d) means to impart rotary movement to said disc and,

accordingly, said toroidal object to be Wound,

(e) means winding a tying strand on said object, and

(f) said means for winding a tying strand constructed for synchronous rotary movement with said disc, across and through said object positioned on said interrupted, annular supporting and positioning surface. 2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said means for winding a tying strand is a split, ring-like member having a tying strand supply, strand guide, and length compensating means, all mounted in an inner rim of said member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,603,801 10/1926 Potter 2424 1,879,988 9/1932 Pullets 242-4 1,953,725 4/1934 Ruesch 188 2,973,154 2/1961 Blackburn 242-4 BILLY S. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. -27 

